In an attempt to keep its police and fire departments at optimal staffing levels, the Oak Park Village Board has approved a staff plan to “overhire” in its public safety workforce.

Village staff told trustee Jan. 28 the move is necessary as the time period to hire young police officers and firefighters can often take several months. Staff would begin the hiring process early in anticipation of pending retirements/resignations or cases of long-term disability.

“The idea of the word ‘overhire’ sounds like we are paying out a lot more money, but in fact there’s some savings involved, and there’s some offsetting amounts,” Oak Park Trustee Jim Taglia said. “It makes sense to me, and I do support it.”

The village board previously approved similar overhire programs for the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years. Trustees approved the 2019 overhire program by a 6-0 vote. Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb was absent.

According to village staff, prior to July 2017 Oak Park did not have a method to address staffing issues related to employees leaving their respective departments. The result was overtime wages at a minimum of 1.5 times the hourly rate to maintain minimum staffing levels.

“We are not doing this and asking you to increase [the budget], but the ability to get a job offer extended,” village manager Cara Pavlicek said. “They might not be on the payroll, but the sooner we get them in the door [the better]. It’s just so important that we get that moving and make it seamless. We want to go above our full-time employee count, but not our budgetary amount.”

Village staff says the lengthy recruitment process for new police and fire officers can be challenging as Oak Park competes with neighboring suburbs and the city of Chicago for new recruits.

“This year, you’re going to see a lot of promotions in both fire and police, so that’s going to create vacancies at the officer and firefighter/paramedic level,” assistant village manager Julia Scott-Valdez said. “We want to get that ball rolling because the last thing you want to create is a deficit.”